Sign up to receive free email alerts when patent applications with chosen keywords are publishedSIGN UP

Abstract:

A unit for uneven transferring of a bead (2) stream in a filter
manufacturing machine, from receiving pockets (18) to leading away
pockets (21), through guiding grooves disposed on guiding plates,
comprising two guiding plates (5, 6) situated on top of each other,
whereas a guiding groove (5A) of the first guiding plate (5) and a
guiding groove (6A) of the second guiding plate (6) intersect, forming at
least one bead (2) guiding chamber, whereas at least one of the guiding
plates (5, 6) is movable, wherein the receiving pockets (18) and the
leading away pockets (21) are disposed along the circumference of the
guiding plates (5, 6) so that the distances (S1, S2, T1, T2) between the
successive pockets (18, 21) are alternately different.

Claims:

1. A unit for uneven transferring of a stream of beads (2) in the
machines of the tobacco industry, from receiving pockets (18) to leading
away pockets (21), through guiding grooves disposed on guiding plates,
comprising two guiding plates (5, 6) situated on top of each other,
whereas a guiding groove (5A) of the first guiding plate (5) and a
guiding groove (6A) of the second guiding plate (6) intersect forming at
least one bead (2) guiding chamber, whereas at least one of the guiding
plates (5, 6) is movable, wherein the receiving pockets (18) and the
leading away pockets (21) are disposed along the circumference of the
guiding plates (5, 6) so that the distances (S1, S2, T1, T2) between the
successive pockets (18, 21) are alternately different.

2. The unit for transferring a bead stream of claim 2 wherein the
proportion of the angular distance (S1, S2) between the successive
receiving pockets (18) is equal to the proportion of the angular
distances (T1, T2) between the successive picking up pockets (21).

3. The unit for transferring a bead stream of claim 1 wherein a delivery
wheel (7) is provided with transport pockets (23) spaced at such
distances that the proportion of distances (U1, U2) between the
successive transport pockets (23) is equal to the proportion of the
angular distances (S1, S2, T1, T2) between the successive receiving
pockets (18) and the picking up pockets (21).

4. The unit for transferring a bead stream of claim 2 wherein a delivery
wheel (7) is provided with transport pockets (23) spaced at such
distances that the proportion of distances (U1, U2) between the
successive transport pockets (23) is equal to the proportion of the
angular distances (S1, S2, T1, T2) between the successive receiving
pockets (18) and the picking up pockets (21).

Description:

[0001] The object of the application is a method and a unit for uneven
transferring of beads used in rod-shaped articles of the tobacco
industry, particularly in cigarette filters.

[0002] This invention concerns the feeding of spherical or oval objects
which are subsequently placed into the filter material or into the spaces
between successive segments of the material forming a segment filter, or
into the spaces between different elements of a cigarette i.e. between
the filter portion and the tobacco portion. For reasons of
simplification, any filter or tobacco elements will be hereinafter
referred to as rod-shaped articles whereas the objects placed into or
between them will be referred to as beads. Known products on the market
are cigarettes the filters of which are provided with beads containing
aromatic substances. The substances contained in the beads are released
during smoking or yet before lighting up a cigarette by squeezing the
filter resulting in crushing of the bead and releasing the aromatic
substance contained inside.

[0003] In the production process, a problem which is difficult to solve
and at the same time very significant is the feeding of individual beads
to a machine forming filters at great speeds in a way which guarantees
that the beads remain undamaged and a high feeding efficiency is
maintained, i.e. each manufactured filter actually contains a bead. A
particularly difficult problem is the feeding of beads at uneven
distances, in segment filters in which the distances between individual
spaces are different.

[0004] In known bead feeders, channels for feeding the beads to the area
from which they are transferred to a bead delivery wheel are used, with
the function of the said wheel to place the delivered beads into the
filter material.

[0005] In the patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,975,877 B2 a bead feeder is disclosed
in which the bead feeding unit is provided with a plurality of radially
arranged channels connected with a bowl, where the channels rotate
together with the bowl, and the beads are picked up by vacuum transfer by
a bead transfer wheel from pockets situated at the outlets of the
channels, and then transferred to a bead delivery wheel.

[0006] The document WO 2009/071271 has disclosed a bead feeder in which
the bead feeding unit is provided with passageways rotating with the
bowl, where the beads are fed to a bead delivery wheel after separating
the lowermost bead from those situated above it using a stationary arched
wedge-ended element.

[0007] The document WO 2009/071272 has disclosed a similar bead feeder,
where the beads are fed to a bead delivery wheel using two plates having
a plurality of openings and rotating relative to each other, and a bead
is fed after aligning respective openings directly on top of each other.

[0008] The patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,833,146 B2 shows a device for feeding
beads by curved channels from a bowl directly to a bead delivery wheel,
where the channels rotate with the bead bowl, and the beads are picked up
from the bowl by vacuum transfer.

[0009] The Polish patent application No. 397838, which belongs to the
Applicant, shows a method of feeding aromatic beads by means of feeding
channels which deliver the aromatic beads to the holding pockets. Then
the beads are transferred to the receiving pockets of the bead transfer
unit by means of movable feeding means synchronised with the transfer
unit. Then the beads are fed to a guiding chamber formed at the
intersection of a guiding groove of a first guiding plate and a guiding
groove of a second guiding plate. As a result of a relative movement of
the guiding plates, the guiding chamber is shifted in the radial
direction to the leading away pocket. In that application, the beads are
guided and delivered to the filter material at even distances.

[0010] The problem of feeding the beads is of a particular importance in
case of feeding the beads into the spaces between successive segments of
a segment filter, particularly in the so-called asymmetric configuration
of filter rod cutting wherein the spaces into which the beads are to be
fed occur at different distances. For the individual filter segments are
trimmed and arranged in an asymmetric way from the perspective of the
final filter configuration. However, feeding of the beads is important
also in case of inserting the beads into a continuous plait of the filter
material.

[0011] In the devices presented above, the beads are transferred from
holding pockets of the supply channels to transfer wheels or to a wheel
delivering the beads to the filter material. However, in case of very
high efficiencies, the construction of the elements can be so complicated
or can require so much space that in order to ensure correct transferring
of the beads a change of the diameter on which the beads are conveyed may
be necessary. A change of the diameter can be also forced by the
construction of elements picking up the beads in order to transfer them
to a wheel delivering the beads into the filter material or into the
space between the segments of the segment filter.

[0012] The objective of the invention is to develop a bead stream feeding
unit in which the flow of beads in the form of a plurality of streams of
individual beads spaced along a first arc with a first radius is
transformed into a flow of beads in the form of an arched stream of
individual beads along a second arc with a second radius.

[0013] The subject matter of the invention is a unit for uneven
transferring of a bead stream in the tobacco industry machines, from
receiving pockets to leading away pockets, through guiding grooves
disposed on guiding plates; the said unit comprises two guiding plates
situated on top of each other, whereas the guiding groove of the first
guiding plate and the guiding groove of the second guiding plate
intersect forming at least one bead guiding chamber, where at least one
of the guiding plates is movable. A unit according to the invention is
characterised in that the receiving pockets and the leading away pockets
are disposed along the circumference of the guiding plates so that the
distances between the successive pockets are alternately different.

[0014] The subject matter of the invention is also a unit for transferring
a bead stream which according to the invention is characterised in that
the proportion of the angular distance between the successive receiving
pockets is equal to the proportion of angular distances between the
successive picking up pockets.

[0015] The subject matter of the invention is also a unit for transferring
a bead stream which according to the invention is characterised in that
the feeding plate is provided with pockets disposed at such distances
that the proportion of distances between the successive pockets is equal
to the proportion of angular distances between the successive receiving
pockets and the picking up pockets.

[0016] A bead transfer unit according to the invention allows transforming
of a bead stream in such a way that at each stage of the bead transfer
the position of the beads is fully controlled, i.e. it is not possible
for a bead to take a random position, which would result for example in
undesirable crushing of a bead. The unit can be used in any bead feeder
in which it is necessary to change the radius of the arc on which a bead
stream moves. The unit allows transferring of a stream of individual
beads at a speed adjusted to highly efficient filter manufacturing
machines while maintaining reciprocal distances between the beads, in
accordance with the selected format.

[0017] The object of the invention has been shown in a preferred
embodiment in a drawing in which:

[0022]FIG. 3a shows a multi-segment filter roller formed of a sequence of
segments of FIG. 3,

[0023]FIG. 4 shows a fragment of a bead feeder in a first embodiment in a
top view,

[0024]FIG. 4a shows a fragment of a bead feeder in a first embodiment in
a top view with marked proportions,

[0025]FIG. 5 shows a fragment of a bead feeder in a second embodiment in
a top view,

[0026]FIG. 5a shows a fragment of a bead feeder in a second embodiment in
a top view with marked proportions,

[0027]FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of a holding, receiving and picking
up pocket in an embodiment of the guiding channel, marked in FIGS. 4 and
5 as A-A, before pushing a bead out of the holding pocket,

[0028]FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of a holding, receiving and picking
up pocket in an embodiment of the guiding channel, marked in FIGS. 4 and
5 as A-A, after transferring a bead to a receiving pocket,

[0029]FIG. 8 shows a sectional view of a holding, receiving and picking
up pocket in an embodiment of the guiding channel, marked in FIGS. 4 and
5 as B-B, at the moment of transferring a bead to the transport pockets
of the delivery wheel.

[0030]FIG. 1 shows a feeder 1 for beads 2 provided with a storage
container 2A for beads 2, a bead stream feeding unit 3, a unit 13 for
transferring the beads to a delivery wheel 7 and the delivery wheel 7 for
delivering the beads 2 between the filter segments moving along a path 9.
For reasons of simplification, the elements fastening individual units
have not been shown. The unit 13 can be adapted to different distances
between the successive filter segments. FIG. 2 shows a sequence of filter
segments comprising alternately situated rod-shaped articles, in
particular the filter segments Y1 and Y2 and the beads 2. The beads 2 are
unevenly spaced in a sequence at the distances a and b; the transport
pockets 23 on the delivery wheel 7 have to be adapted to such distances.
The presented sequence of filter segments Y1 and Y2 and beads 2 is
continuously wrapped into a paper wrapper so that an endless
multi-segment filter roller is formed (FIG. 2a); the said roller is cut
into multi-segment rods which are used in the manufacture of cigarette
filters. A roller alternately formed of filter and tobacco portions will
look similar. FIG. 3 shows another example sequence of filter segments
and beads comprising the filter segments Y3, Y4 and Y5 and the beads 2
which is similarly wrapped into a paper wrapper in order to form a
multi-segment roller. In this case the transport pockets 23 on the
delivery wheel 7 have to be adapted to the distances c and d between the
points in which the beads 2 are placed in the multi-segment roller (FIG.
3a). In both cases described above, the transport pockets 23 are unevenly
spaced on the circumference of the delivery wheel 7. The described device
can be also used for uneven feeding of beads or similar elements to the
filter material strip of which an endless filter roller, which is cut
into filter rods, is formed.

[0031]FIG. 4 shows a fragment of a bead feeder 1 in a first embodiment in
a top view. A bead 2 feeding unit 3 is provided with a plurality of
stationary channels in the form of tubes 4 spaced on an arc with the
radius R1, with the said tubes being supplied from the container 2A (in
FIG. 1, one bead 2 above the inlet to one of the tubes 4 has been shown).
At the outlets of the tubes 4 are situated holding pockets 14 (FIG. 6)
from which the beads 2 are transferred to receiving pockets 18 belonging
to a bead 2 transfer unit 13, whereas the receiving pockets 18 are
situated in the area between a first guiding plate 5 and a second guiding
plate 6. After passing through a substantially horizontal guiding channel
19 between the first guiding plate 5 and the second guiding plate 6, the
beads 2 are then delivered to leading away pockets 21 moving on an arc
with the radius R2. A bead 2' moves between the receiving pocket 18 and
the inlet of the leading away pocket 21 along the guiding channel 19. The
upper part of the guiding channel 19 is defined by a guiding groove 5A
(FIG. 5) shaped on the bottom side of the first guiding plate 5 oriented
towards the second guiding plate 6, the lower part of the guiding channel
19 is defined by a guiding groove 6A (FIG. 5) on the top side of the
second guiding plate 6 oriented towards the first guiding plate 5,
whereas one of the guiding grooves 5A and 6A is sufficient to guide the
bead 2. The beads 2 are further transferred from the leading away pockets
21 to the transport pockets 23 on the circumference of the delivery wheel
7 which places the beads 2 between the filter segments Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4 and
Y5 which are guided along a path 9. For the purpose of holding the beads
2, the transport pockets 23 can be supplied with the vacuum.

[0032] During operation, the tubes 4 of the bead feeding unit 3 are filled
with the beads 2. The bead feeding unit 3 is provided with rotatable
feeding means in the form of a cam 8 comprising pushing segments 10
having pushing edges 11, whereas the cam 8 rotates around the axis of
rotation 12 at the speed ω1. The first guiding plate 5 is
stationary, whereas the second guiding plate 6 is rotatable and rotates
around the axis of rotation 12 at the speed ω2 lower than the speed
ω1 of the cam 8.

[0033]FIG. 4a shows in simplified terms the distances, which are
essential for the invention, between the individual subassemblies of the
invention. The distances between the receiving pockets 18 have been
marked as S1, S2, the distances between the leading away pockets 21 have
been marked as T1, T2, whereas the distances between the transport
pockets 23 have been marked as U1, U2. In this embodiment of the
invention it has been shown how to ensure feeding of the beads into the
spaces between unevenly spaced filter segments. All pockets in a
configuration for one format, i.e. for a specific sequence of filter
segments in a finished product, are spaced at such distances so as to
maintain the proportion of distances between the beads placed at specific
points between the filter segments or other rod-shaped articles being the
products of the tobacco industry. An embodiment in which two distances
occur is not a limiting embodiment and the invention is applicable also
in case of complex systems in which the beads are to be inserted taking
into consideration for example three different distances between the
successive bead feeding points.

[0034]FIG. 5 shows a fragment of a bead 2 feeder 1 in a second embodiment
in a top view. A bead 2 feeding unit 3 is provided with a plurality of
stationary channels in the form of tubes 4 spaced on an arc with the
radius R1, with the said tubes being supplied from the container 2A (in
FIG. 1, one bead 2 above the inlet to one of the tubes 4 has been shown).
At the outlets of the tubes 4 are situated holding pockets 14 (FIG. 6)
from which the beads are transferred to receiving pockets 18 belonging to
a unit 13 transferring the beads 2 to the delivery wheel 7, whereas the
pockets are situated in the area between a first guiding plate 5 and a
second guiding plate 6. After passing through a substantially horizontal
guiding channel 19 between the first guiding plate 5 and the second
guiding plate 6, the beads are then delivered to leading away pockets 21
moving on an arc with the radius R2. The beads 2 are further transferred
to the transport pockets 23 on the circumference of the delivery wheel 7
which places the beads 2 between the filter segments Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4 and
Y5 (FIGS. 2 and 3) conveyed along a path 9. For the purpose of holding
the beads 2, the transport pockets 23 can be supplied with the vacuum.
The guiding channel 19 is formed of two parts, where the guiding channel
19 should be considered as a path which a bead 2' covers between the
receiving pocket 18 and the inlet of the leading away pocket 21. The
upper part of the guiding channel 19 is defined by a guiding groove 5A
shaped on the bottom side of the first guiding plate 5 oriented towards
the second guiding plate 6, the lower part of the guiding channel 19 is
defined by a guiding groove 6A on the top side of the second guiding
plate 6 oriented towards the first guiding plate 5, whereas the grooves
5A and 6A intersect.

[0035] During operation, the tubes 4 of the bead feeding unit 3 are filled
with the beads 2. The bead feeding unit 3 is provided with rotatable
feeding means in the form of a cam 8 comprising pushing segments 10
having pushing edges 11, whereas the cam 8 rotates around the axis of
rotation 12 at the speed ω1. The first guiding plate 5 is
stationary, whereas the second guiding plate 6 is rotatable and rotates
around the axis of rotation 12 at the speed ω2 lower than the speed
ω1 of the cam 8. The guiding grooves 5A and 6A of both guiding
plates 5 and 6 are shown in broken lines. At the intersection of the
grooves 5A and 6A forms a guiding chamber 22 which in view of the
direction of rotation of the plate 6 and the orientation of the grooves
moves so that the distance of the guiding chamber 22 to the axis of
rotation 12 increases between the radius R1 and R2. A solution is also
possible where both plates 5 and 6 are rotatable.

[0036]FIG. 5a shows in simplified terms the distances, which are
essential for the invention, between the individual subassemblies of the
invention. The distances between the receiving pockets 18 have been
marked as S1, S2, the distances between the leading away pockets 21 have
been marked as T1, T2, whereas the distances between the transport
pockets 23 have been marked as U1, U2. In this embodiment of the
invention it has been shown how to ensure feeding of the beads into the
spaces between unevenly spaced filter segments.

[0037]FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of any tube 4, where for example in
FIG. 4a the section was marked as A-A. The lowermost bead 2' in the bead
2 column is situated in the holding pocket 14 disposed at the outlet of
the tube 4, limited from below by a plate 15, and on the sides by a ring
5 and a circumferential edge 16 of the cam 8. FIG. 7 corresponds to a
situation where the pushing segment 10 moving on a circular path during
the rotation of the cam 8 has passed a successive holding pocket 14
beneath a successive tube 4 and caused pushing the bead 2' out of the
holding pocket 14, and the said bead has moved to the receiving pocket
18. The bead 2' will be further transferred substantially horizontally in
a guiding channel 19 being the path of movement of the guiding chamber
22, and then to the leading away pocket 21.

[0038]FIG. 8 shows a sectional view marked in FIG. 4a as B-B where a bead
2 is placed into a transport pocket 23 on the delivery wheel 7 on which
it is held in a known way, for example by vacuum force.

[0039]FIG. 1 shows, in thick broken lines, the path which a bead covers
in the described embodiments. An example bead 2 moves downward from the
container 2A in one of the stationary channels in the form of a tube 4 to
a holding pocket 14, this section of the path has been marked in the
drawing as X1. The next section of the path from the holding pocket 14
through a receiving pocket 18 to a picking up pocket 21 has been marked
as X2. In the next section of the path X3 the bead 2 is transferred on an
arc in the picking up pocket 21 to the point of transfer of the bead 2 to
a transport pocket 23 on a delivery wheel 7. Then the bead 2 in the
section X4 is moved in the transport pocket 23 on the delivery wheel 7.
Afterwards it is placed between the filter segments on a path 9 and
further moves together with the filter segments along the last section of
the path X5.

[0040] The unit according to the invention has a wide application to bead
feeding into the spaces between the successive filter segments of a
segment filter, in particular to bead feeding into spaces arranged at
different distances in so-called asymmetric configurations. A typical
problem to be solved by a specialist in the field of manufacture of the
tobacco industry products in order to engineer a manufacturing machine
will be an appropriate arrangement of known devices supplying rod-shaped
articles or the filter material along the path 9 as well as of devices
picking up a sequence of rod-shaped articles and wrapping it into a paper
wrapper.